Gratitude for a random act of kindness: Visiting servicemen, Rochester family treated to meal

By Liz Markhlevskaya

lmark@fosters.com

fosters.com

By Liz Markhlevskaya

lmark@fosters.com

Posted Dec. 27, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By Liz Markhlevskaya

lmark@fosters.com

Posted Dec. 27, 2012 at 3:15 AM

ROCHESTER — A random act of kindness by a retired military gentleman has left a local family thankful and pleasantly surprised this holiday season.

On Saturday, Susan Murphy’s three sons — who all serve in the Navy — came to the 99 Restaurant in Dover to join the holiday family dinner. For Murphy, a Lilac City resident, it was one of her first chances to take photographs of all three sons wearing their Navy dress blues.

After a rowdy and chatty dinner, involving 14 family members eating filling meals, the waitress approached the family and said, “The only thing on your tab is your dessert,” Murphy recalls.

As it turned out, a veteran who had been eating dinner in the corner of the restaurant with his wife, had noticed the three men wearing their Navy dress blues, and decided to pay the entire dinner bill.

The waitress said the man did not want to be thanked — he and his wife left the restaurant before the family could acknowledge him and thank him for his kindness.

“We didn’t even see them,” said Murphy. “We were surprised that anyone would be so kind. It baffled all of us. We were stunned — every one of us was stunned.”

Looking for a way to thank the anonymous veteran and his wife, Murphy reached out to Foster’s earlier this week.

“(I want) to thank him for his service and for recognizing the service of my children,” said Murphy.

Murphy’s husband, Scott Murphy, said the entire dinner bill must have cost at least $200. The only thing the family paid for was three desserts — ordered primarily by Murphy’s three grandchildren — and a decent tip for the waitress.

All three of Murphy’s sons — Joseph Hebert, 28, William Hebert, 25, and Tom Hebert, 22 — were recently promoted within the Navy, she said.

For William, ranked EM2 and stationed in San Diego, it was his first time in two years being home for the holiday season. Last Christmas, he was in Singapore, in the midst of an eight-month deployment. The year before, he was in San Diego.

Joseph, an AM3, and Tom, an MA3, are both in the Navy Reserves, and living in Rochester.

Murphy said she is always moved when a stranger approaches one of her uniformed sons and shakes his hand, whether it be at a department store or at a restaurant.